John W. “Tom” Hommel, as a small child, moved with his parents to
La Crosse County, Wisconsin from his place of birth on Long Island, New
York. In about 1869, when he was 17 years old, Hommel moved to Clark County
and worked as a blacksmith at Straffordville. Later he worked this
trade at lumber camps and eventually established a shop in Neillsville.
He was an expert at his trade and possessed mechanical genius, quickly
gaining a working knowledge of plumbing and other trades.

After a series of fires in Neillsville in 1875, a fire department
was organized. Three companies were to be organized but only the
Hook and Ladder Company with twenty to thirty men and “Tom” Hommel as Captain
was actually organized. The Fire Company erected a place of amusement
in 1876 called the “Fireman's Hall,” which, in 1885, was relocated to Fourth
Street and renamed the “Fourth Street Theater.” Eventually owned
by Hommel and five associates, the theater had a capacity of six hundred
people and featured electric lights.

Soon after the city of Neillsville was incorporated in 1883, Hommel
was appointed City Marshal (Chief of Police) and also Street Commissioner.
During this period the first paved streets and first water and sewer system
were provided to the community.

Hommel enlisted in Company A of the Third Wisconsin National Guard
on March 22, 1882. He served as a second lieutenant and was later successively
promoted to first lieutenant on November 14, 1887 and Captain on May 22,
1891. At the start of the Spanish American War, Company
A formed at Camp Harvey, Wisconsin. The unit was mustered
into state service on April 28, 1898 and then into federal service on May
11 as Company
A of the Third
Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. A short time later the regiment
left for Camp Thomas, Georgia. The camp was located on the grounds of the
Civil War battlefield of Chickamauga. Notoriously unhealthy, the camp had
poor sanitation and inadequately facilities for the large number of troops
gathered there. The unit departed on July 18th for service in the Santiago,
Cuba campaign. At Charleston, South Carolina the men were placed aboard
transports GRAND DUCHESS and
OBDAM
and taken instead to Ponce,
Puerto
Rico to join in the invasion of that island. The unit was part
of Major General James H. Wilson's 1st Division of the First Army Corps.
The Third Wisconsin
saw action at Coamo. During its service, the company
suffered from disease, such as malaria, yellow fever and typhoid fever,
as was typical of the troops serving in the tropical environment. The unit,
however, lost no men to the action against the enemy but did lose three
men to disease. Four others would die in later years from diseases caught
in Puerto Rico, a remarkably
low number.

Captain Hommel served as Provost Marshal at Coamo and later as U.S.
Commissioner in charge of property in Cedra and Cayey. Presumably
in these same locations, he was responsible for taking control of Spanish
property for the U.S. as they were abandoned by the Spanish as part of
the surrender agreement. According to family tradition, when he left
Puerto
Rico, the mayor of the town he was then serving in presented
him with an ancient sword that had been used by the Spanish against the
British.

The company returned to Neillsville on October 31, 1898 and was promptly
furloughed until January 4, 1899, when it was mustered out of federal service.
Company A or the Wisconsin National Guard was reorganized on May 5, 1899
and “Tom” Hommel was again elected as Captain. After the entire 3rd
Wisconsin National Guard Regiment was reorganized, he was appointed Major
commanding the 3rd Battalion on June 12, 1899.

While in Puerto Rico, he befriended a boy who became the mascot of
Regiment. With the boy's parents’ permission, Hommel brought the
boy home to Neillsville and adopted him. His name was Placido Ramos
Vasquez. He became a doctor and practiced medicine in Elkader, Iowa
and served in the Army during World War One.

Hommel was promoted to Lt. Col. In the National Guard on October
1, 1913. When military action involving Poncho Via occurred on the
Mexican border in 1916, Lt. Col. Hommel went with the 3rd Wisconsin National
Guard to Texas, serving as the regimental executive officer. His second
wife, Ida went with him to San Antonio. On his retirement from the
National Guard on March 24, 1917, he was promoted to colonel.

During World War I, Hommel trained local farm children and clerks
in drill and in the use of firearms prior to their joining the army. Tom
Hommel continued to serve his community until his death, bettering the
parks for the children of Neillsville. His granddaughter Jane remembered
him leading a crew of men who made and installed playground equipment.

Earlier in his military career, he had been offered a regular army
commission but had to decline it since his wife was quite ill. His
first wife Charlotte Jane Steele died in 1903. He later married Ida
M. Carnegie.

It was said of “Tom Hommel” that he could repair a faucet, arrest
a man, put out a fire and lead a grand parade all in the space of an hour.

Support this Site by Visiting
the Website Store! (help us defray costs!)
We are providing the following
service for our readers. If you are interested in books, videos, CD's etc.
related to the Spanish American War, simply type in "Spanish American War"
as the keyword and click on "go" to get a list of titles available through
Amazon.com.